Why it works: Tarragon and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,547 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Aspic Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the stock
Combine ox-foot, bacon bone, scraps of meat, young fowl, and mixed vegetables in a stew-pan.
Add 1 cup of cold water and cover the pan.
Heat on the stove, shaking occasionally until the meat begins to color.
Add more water as needed, then pour in enough to cover the contents completely.
Stir in 1 teaspoon of caramel and let simmer gently for 3 hours.
Clarify and finish
Strain the liquid into a bowl and let it cool.
Skim off any fat, then add 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1 tablespoon of tarragon vinegar.
Clarify the liquid and strain it through a clean cloth to achieve a clear, amber-colored liquid.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Tarragon + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,547 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Ham + meattop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,095 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
-
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Ham + vinegartop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together737 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-methylbutanol (malty, whiskey).
-
Meat + tarragontop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together184 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ox-foot
- Releases gelatin as it simmers, which lets the cooled liquid set into a jelly.
- Young fowl
- Adds savory meat flavor and some body to the stock during the long simmer.
- Bacon bone
- Contributes smoky, salty depth to the stock as it cooks.
- Caramel
- Deepens the stock's amber color and adds a slightly bittersweet color-and-flavor note.
- Tarragon vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor of the rich, gelatinous stock.
The step that matters
Skim the fat before clarifying. Fat left in the cooled stock can cloud the jelly and leave a greasy mouthfeel. Removing it first lets the clarifying and straining step produce a clear, firm aspic.
Swap the tarragon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, meat, sugar, vinegar):
- Clovefits about as well
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Allspicefits about as well
- Tarragonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against ham, meat, sugar, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
More aspic recipes
You might also like
Meat Croquettes52 recipes
Meatballs37 recipes
Mince Meat37 recipes
Meat Cakes35 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.